Broadmoor Hospital

Lord Warner: My honourable friend the Minister of State (Rosie Winterton) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	The department has approved outline proposals for a major redevelopment programme at Broadmoor Hospital in Berkshire.
	Broadmoor Hospital is part of West London Mental Health Trust and provides services under the provisions of the NHS Act 1977 for persons who require treatment under conditions of high security. It was recently criticised for the inadequacy of its physical infrastructure and facilities in a 2003 report by the Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection (now known as the Healthcare Commission).
	The redevelopment proposals contained a number of construction options to rectify these deficiencies and provide a safer and more effective clinical environment. The eventual costs have to be related to the revenue affordability of the scheme and on current estimates this means the cost of redevelopment is unlikely to exceed £190 million at today's prices.
	The next step for the Broadmoor scheme will be further to explore the potential construction options over the next 12 to18 months and prepare an outline business case to select the preferred option and procurement strategy, at which point the scheme's capital budget will be set.

Cabinet Office: Winter Supplementary Estimate 2005–06

Lord Bassam of Brighton: Subject to parliamentary approval of any necessary supplementary estimate, the Cabinet Office DEL will be increased by £1,735,000 from £224,409,000 to £226,144,000. There is no movement in the administration costs limits. Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table.
	
		
			   New DEL 
			 £'000 Change Voted Non-voted Total 
			 Resource 1,735 226,144 0 226,144 
			 Capital 0 25,000 0 25,000 
			 Depreciation* 0 -37,338 0 -37,338 
			 Total 1,735 213,806 0 213,806 
		
	
	*Depreciation, which forms part of resource DEL, is excluded from the total DEL since capital DEL includes capital spending and to include depreciation of those assets would lead to double counting.
	The change in the resource element of the DEL arises from drawdown of EYF of £550,000 and a transfer of £1,185,000 from various government departments to fund protective security measures relating to state and government assets in central London.
	There is no change to the capital element of the DEL.

Consular Fees (Amendment) Order 2005

Lord Triesman: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has recently undertaken an exercise to determine the fees to be charged for biometric passports issued overseas. On 15 November 2005 Her Majesty in Council approved the Consular Fees (Amendment) Order 2005, which amends the Consular Fees Order 2005. The Government are today announcing biometric passport fees to be charged under the amended Consular Fees Order 2005 with effect from 1 December 2005.
	The fee for a standard 32 page biometric passport will be set at £91.00, the fee for a 48 page biometric passport will be set at £109.00, the fee for a biometric passport for a child will be set at £59.00, and the fee for an amendment will be set at £75.50. These fees have been set following a stringent review with HM Treasury of costs.
	The biometric passport is being introduced as part of the ongoing efforts to combat passport and identity fraud. The issuing equipment will be rolled out to our passport issuing posts between January 2006 and July 2006.

Department for Education and Skills: Winter Supplementary Estimate 2005–06

Lord Adonis: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (Ruth Kelly) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	Subject to parliamentary approval of any necessary supplementary estimate, the Department for Education and Skills departmental expenditure limit (DEL), (including the Office for Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools (OFSTED) which has a separate estimate) will be decreased by £661,000 from £30,766,423,000 to £30,765,762,000 and the administration costs limits will be increased by £1,059,000 from £275,359,000 to £276,418,000.
	Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table.
	
		
			 DfES Resources Capital 
			  Change New DEL Of which:  Change New DEL Of which:  
			Voted Non-voted   Voted Non-voted 
			  £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 
			 RfR 1 -13,204 24,989,407 8,316,452 16,672,955 0 4,180,348 2,869,687 1,310,661 
			 RfR 2 12,542 915,973 915,973 0 0 264,167 264,167 0 
			 RfR 3 1 195,253 195,253 0 0 14 14 0 
			 OFSTED 0 220,000 220,000 0 0 600 600 0 
			 Sub Total -661 26,320,633 9,647,678 16,672,955 0 4,445,129 3,134,468 1,310,661 
			 Depreciation* 0 -47,843 -12,247 -35,596 0 0 0 0 
			 Total -661 26,272,790 9,635,431 16,637,359 0 4,445,129 3,134,468 1,310,661 
		
	
	*Depreciation, which forms part of resource DEL, is excluded from the total DEL, in the table above, since capital DEL includes capital spending and to include depreciation of those assets would lead to double counting.
	Within the Administration Cost limits changes, the impact is set out in the following table.
	
		
			 DfES Original Change Revised 
			  £'000 £'000 £'000 
			 DfES (RfR1) 250,689 1,059 251,748 
			 OFSTED 24,670 0 24,670 
			 Total 275,359 1,059 276,418 
		
	
	Resource DEL
	The decrease in the resource element of the DEL of £661,000 arises from a £145,038,000 decrease in the voted element of the resource DEL and an increase of £144,377,000 in the non-voted element of the resource DEL mainly to the department's non-departmental public bodies.
	Voted Resource DEL
	The £145,038,000 decrease in the voted element of the resource DEL arises from:
	RfR 1
	A £171,495,000 movement to non-voted, for the Adventure Activities Licensing Authority £500,000, the Investors in People UK £300,000, the Children's Commissioner £3,000,000, for the Training and Development Agency for Schools £4,000,000, and for Lifelong Learning programmes transferring to the Learning and Skills Council £163,695,000. A movement from non-voted of £1,034,000 for the General Teaching Council and £300,000 for a technical adjustment to quality review. A reduction of £35,000,000 of receipts for the Scientific Research Investment Fund. The take up of Invest to Save Budget of £1,480,000 for the Kid's Club. A movement to RfR2 voted for the Early Support programme £5,000,000 and for Local Authority Children's Centres £19,000,000. A movement from RfR2 voted £2,000,000 for Schools Foundation Stage and £300,000 for Training and Qualifications. A movement to RfR3 voted £1,000 for a token increase due to the reclassification of funding streams for the Children's Fund. A transfer to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport of £1,650,000 for Strategic Commissioning and the Creativity Review. A transfer to the Department for International Development of £19,000 for UK presidency gift donations. A transfer to the Department of Trade and Industry of £451,000 for the National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship and review bodies membership fees. A transfer to Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs of £863,000 for the Savings Gateway Pilots Project. A net transfer to the Home Office of £3,205,000 for Young People's Substance Misuse, Offenders Education, Education in Contracted Prisons and Youth Volunteering Challenge. A transfer from the Department of Health of £2,989,000 for Academic General Practitioners, Protection of Vulnerable Adults and the Bichard Vetting and Barring Scheme. A transfer from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister of £1,000,000 for Universities of Cornwall.
	RfR2
	A movement to RfR1 non-voted of £9,216,000 for the National College of School Leadership £7,000,000; the Training and Development Agency for Schools £2,000,000 and the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority £216,000. The take up of Invest to Save Budget of £58,000 to support families. A movement from RfR1 voted for the Early Support programme £5,000,000 and for Local Authority Children's Centres £19,000,000. A movement to RfR1 voted of £2,000,000 for Schools Foundation Stage and £300,000 for Training and Qualifications.
	RfR3
	A movement from RfR1 of £1,000 for a token increase due to the re-classification of funding streams for the Children's Fund.
	Administration Cost Limits
	The £1,059,000 increase in the administration cost limit arises from the transfer from the Department of Health for administrating the Protection of Vulnerable Adults scheme.
	Non-voted Resource DEL
	The £144,377,000 increase in non-voted resource DEL arises from the movement of £171,495,000 from RfR1 voted resource DEL; a reduction of £35,000,000 expenditure for the Scientific Research Investment Fund. A movement to RfR1 voted resource of £1,034,000 for the General Teaching Council and £300,000 for a technical adjustment to quality review. A movement from RfR2 voted resource of £9,216,000.
	Capital DEL
	There is no change in the capital element of the DEL.

Department for Work and Pensions: Winter Supplementary Estimate 2005–06

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (James Plaskitt) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the Department for Work and Pensions DEL will be increased by £203,583,000 from £8,623,821,000 to £8,827,404,000 and the administration costs limits will be increased by £39,855,000 from £6,019,407,000 to £6,059,262,000. Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table.
	
		
			  £k New DEL £k 
			  Change Voted Non-voted Total 
			 Resource 143,425 6,815,271 1,715,181 8,530,452 
			 Capital 60,158 396,414 9,928 406,342 
			 Depreciation1  -108,628 -762 -109,390 
			 Total 203,583 7,103,057 1,724,347 8,827,404 
		
	
	Note:
	1 Depreciation, which forms part of resource DEL, is excluded from the total DEL since capital DEL includes capital spending and to include depreciation of those assets would lead to double counting.
	The change in the resource element of the DEL arises from:
	RfR2
	an increase in provision of £80,000,000 (other current) due to increased spending on employment programmes (take up of end of year flexibility);
	an increase in provision of £600,000 (grants) due to a transfer from the Scottish Executive for the costs of administration subsidy to local authorities;
	an increase in provision of £2,939,000 (grants) due to a successful bid from the Invest to Save budget;
	RfR3
	an increase in provision of £5,000,000 (administration) for the costs of age-related payments as announced in the 2004 Pre-Budget Report;
	an increase in provision of £31,000 (grants) due to a successful bid from the Invest to Save budget;
	RfR4
	a reduction in provision of £145,000 (administration) due to a transfer to the Ministry of Defence for the Veterans Agency postal budget;
	RfR5
	an increase in provision of £20,000,000 (other current non-cash) due to an increase in the provision for early release (end of year flexibility);
	an increase in provision of £25,000,000 (administration) from the reserve to meet the cost of higher Post Office card account volumes as agreed in the SR2002 settlement;
	an increase in provision of £10,000,000 (administration) for measures to promote financial inclusion as agreed in the 2005 Budget Report;
	Capital
	The change in the capital element of the DEL arises from:
	RfR2
	an increase in provision of £60,000,000 due to spending on Jobcentre Plus rollout (take up of end year flexibility);
	RfR3
	an increase in provision of £158,000 due to a successful bid from the Invest to Save budget;
	Administration Costs
	The movement in the administration cost limit arises from those items noted above as affecting administration costs.
	Movements from non-voted expenditure
	Additionally there are the following draw-downs that are neutral in overall DEL terms:
	Departmental Unallocated Provision
	£1,500,000 (resource) into RfR2 for the Working Age Client Group;
	£25,000,000 (resource) into RfR3 for the pensions service;
	£26,675,000 (resource) into RfR5 for corporate administration; and
	£7,000,000 (capital) into RfR5 for corporate projects;
	Welfare Modernisation Fund
	£25,000,000 into RfR1 for child support reform;
	£30,000,000 into RfR2 for the customer management system;
	£69,000,000 (resource) and £29,000,000 (capital) into RfR3 for the Pensions Transformation Project; and
	£47,000,000 into RfR5 for expenditure on the Payment Modernisation Project, the Resource Management Project and the Debt Management Project;
	Employment Development Fund
	£70,000,000 into RfR2 for Jobcentre Plus roll out.
	Financial Assistance Scheme
	£21,000,000 from RfR3 into non-voted

Department of Health and Food Standards Agency: Winter Supplementary Estimates 2005–06

Lord Warner: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Health has made the following Written Ministerial Statement today.
	Subject to the necessary supplementary estimate, the Department of Health's element of the departmental expenditure limit (DEL) will be reduced by £174,214,000 from £78,765,403,000 to £78,591,189,000 and the administration cost limit will be reduced by £1,059,000 from £248,688,000 to £247,629,000. The Food Standards Agency DEL will be increased by £300,000 from £144,124,000 to £144,424,000. The overall DEL including the Food Standards Agency will be reduced by £173,914,000 from £78,909,527,000 to £78,735,613,000. The impact on resource and capital are set out in the following table.
	
		
			   New DEL 
			  Change Voted Non-voted Total 
			  £ million £ million £ million £ million 
			  
			 Department of Health 
			 Resource DEL -174.214 75,237.349 -464.567 74,772.782 
			  
			 Capital DEL 0 1,296.545 2,521.862 3,818.407 
			  
			 Total Department 
			 of Health DEL 
			  -174.214 76,533.894 2,057.295 78,591.189 
			  
			 Depreciation* -0.134 -610.510 -51.669 -662.179 
			  
			 Total Department 
			 of Health spending 
			 (after adjustment) -174.348 75,923.384 2,005.626 77,929.010 
			  
			 Food Standards 
			 Agency 
			  
			  
			 Resources 0.300 143.777 0 143.777 
			  
			 Capital 0 0.647 0 0.647 
			  
			 Total Food 
			 Standards Agency 
			 DEL 
			  0.300 144.424 0 144.424 
			  
			 Depreciation* 0 -2.004 0 -2.004 
			  
			 Total Food Standards 
			 Agency spending 
			 (after adjustment) 
			  0.300 142.420 0 142.420 
		
	
	*Depreciation, which forms part of resource DEL, is excluded from the total DEL since the capital DEL includes capital spending and to include depreciation of those assets would lead to double counting.
	The change in the DEL arises from a reduction in the level of provisions by £200,000,000. A net transfers from the Home Office of £28,728,000 mainly for prison healthcare, pooled drug treatment budgets, hospital security and a contribution to change-up funding to promote volunteering, offset by the young persons substance misuse planning grant which is now administered by the Home Office. A transfer from the Scottish Executive of £47,000 for a contribution for the high security infectious disease unit and a transfer to the Department for Education and Skills of £2,989,000 (£1,059,000 administration costs) mainly for protection of vulnerable adults scheme and funding Bichard review recommendations.
	The administration cost limit has been reduced by £1,059,000 from £248,688,000 to £247,629,000 as detailed above.
	The change to the Food Standards Agency resource element of the DEL arose from a transfer of £300,000 programme funds from the Home Office in respect of research into the survivability of chemical biological agents in bottled water and packaged food.
	The Food Standards Agency's administration cost limit and capital element of the DEL remain unchanged.

Department of Trade and Industry:Winter Supplementary Estimates 2005–06

Lord Sainsbury of Turville: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Alan Johnson) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	The department has today, produced its winter supplementary 2005-06 estimates memorandum. Copies of the memorandum have been placed in the Libraries of the House.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office:Winter Supplementary Estimate

Lord Triesman: Subject to parliamentary approval of any necessary supplementary estimate, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office departmental expenditure limit (DEL) will be increased by £16,047,000 from £1,813,483,000 to £1,829,530,000 and the administration budget will be decreased by £1,400,000 from £797,638,000 to £796,238,000. Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table.
	
		
			   New DEL £000 
			  Change Voted Non-voted Total 
			 Resource 16,047 1,776,817 52,713 1,829,530 
			 Capital 0 121,978 1,000 122,978 
			 Depreciation* 0 -113,624 -20,000 -133,624 
			 Total 16,047 1,785,171 33,713 1,818,884 
		
	
	*Depreciation, which forms part of resource DEL, is excluded from the total DEL since capital DEL includes capital spending and to include depreciation of those assets would lead to double counting.
	The change in the resource element of the DEL arises from:
	Request for Resources 1
	Administration
	A transfer of £1,400,000 to the Security and Intelligence Agencies (SIA) for language training provided by the FCO. This will in future be invoiced to the SIA, resulting in an offsetting increase in both income and expenditure of £1,400,000 to reflect this;
	Programme
	Transfers from the Home Office of £1,000,000 for the funding of the Afghan Delivery Plan; and from the Department for International Development (DfID) of £7,985,000 for the transfer of the small grants scheme to the FCO;
	A transfer to the Security and Intelligence Agencies (SIA) of £3,588,000 for revisions in planned programme activity;
	Request for Resources 2
	Programme
	Transfer from DfID of £12,000,000 for Africa peacekeeping activity and £150,000 from DfID for Caucasus conflict prevention projects;
	A transfer of £100,000 to SIA for revisions in planned programme activity.
	There is no change to the capital element of the DEL.

HM Styal Prison: Prison and Probation Ombudsman's Report

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Fiona Mactaggart) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	I welcome the publication today of the Prison and Probation Ombudsman's (PPO) report into the death at Styal of Julie Walsh in 2003 and wish to make a Statement about developments since 2003 and further planned work relating to women offenders. Much work has been done or is under way in respect of women offenders but it is timely to take stock and assess whether the right steps are being taken.
	On 21 August 2003 Paul Goggins announced that he had commissioned the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman to investigate the circumstances and events surrounding the death at Styal of Julie Walsh on 12 August 2003 and to examine the death in the context of the series of six deaths at Styal since August 2002. On 21 January 2004 Paul Goggins made a Statement in which he outlined the main general findings of the Ombudsman's report and the action the Prison Service was taking as a matter of urgency to prevent a recurrence. The Ombudsman's detailed and thorough report identified some serious inadequacies at Styal relating to regimes, facilities and procedures during the period covered by the six deaths. The Ombudsman suggested what lessons can be learnt from these sad events to prevent a recurrence; reported on factors common to the deaths; and made a number of recommendations, which Paul Goggins accepted. The report will be published today, 17 November 2005, on the Ombudsman's website.
	The first five deaths were thoroughly investigated by the Prison Service and were examined further by the PPO as part of his investigation into the death of Julie Walsh. Full public inquests took place between October 2003 and April 2005, the sixth inquest concluding on 26 April 2005. These were thorough and transparent investigations. There has been subsequent correspondence with the Cheshire Coroner about a number of concerns he identified in respect of three of the inquests.
	Many important changes have been made at Styal in the intervening period including the opening of a first night centre to which women arriving from court are transferred within 30 minutes of arrival, the introduction of a methadone detoxification programme, the opening of a specialist unit known as "CALM" to provide a therapeutic environment for those women not able to access wider regime activities, transformation of the segregation unit into a Care, Separation and Reintegration Unit, staffed by selected prison officers and mental health nurses to support prisoners in crisis, and development of the Reeman Unit into a day care facility run by mental health nurses to support prisoners with long term mental health issues. Following a review, new suicide and self-harm prevention procedures are in place overseen by a dedicated suicide prevention co-ordinator. ACCT (Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork), which provides individualised support and care for women at risk of self-harm, has been introduced and staff at Styal fully trained in its use.
	The Ombudsman's report raised some very serious issues and has made a valuable contribution to suicide prevention not just at Styal but also throughout the rest of the women's estate. From 1 April 2004 the Ombudsman has conducted investigations into all deaths in prison custody (and probation hostels and immigration centres). He has provided greater independent scrutiny and transparency and increased public confidence, and made it more likely that lessons are learnt that reduce the likelihood of further deaths. The report has helped inform development of a suicide and self-harm prevention strategy specifically for women. Moreover, the increased knowledge and learning is being shared across other custodial institutions to help inform suicide prevention strategies across the board.
	The Government believe that prison should be reserved for dangerous, serious and seriously persistent offenders and sentences should be as long as necessary for punishment and public protection, but no longer. Sentencing is a matter for the courts but sentencers should be adequately informed about the vulnerability of individual offenders and should balance the seriousness of the offence and the risk of harm offenders pose to others with the risk of harm to themselves. Section 166 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 gives sentencers the discretion to mitigate sentences by taking into account such information and allows sentencers to impose a community sentence, provided there are relevant mitigating factors, even where the offence would normally have justified a custodial sentence. The Criminal Justice Act 2003 also states that a court must not pass a custodial sentence on an offender unless it is of the opinion that the offence, or combination of offences, are serious enough to warrant such a sentence.
	Sentencers must be well informed about the range of non-custodial sentences at their disposal. To ensure effective dialogue between sentencers and those who deliver sentences, liaison takes place between local probation services and sentencers. Consultative fora involving sentencers, court staff and offender managers are being used to provide feedback to sentencers on the effectiveness of sentences; to enhance understanding of sentencing options available locally; and to provide feedback on sentencing decisions including information when someone they have sentenced to custody self harms, or commits or attempts suicide. Many sentencers welcome this feedback.
	Work continues on the Women's Offending Reduction Programme (WORP) to co-ordinate and implement a comprehensive programme of work to address the complex range of factors that affect women's offending—including substance misuse, mental health problems, housing, child care issues, histories of abuse, poverty and education, training and employment. WORP seeks to identify ways in which the various departments, agencies and organisations that deal with these issues can work more effectively together to tackle the problem as a whole, rather than dealing with each in isolation. £9.15 million is to be spent on new approaches in two areas to demonstrate how women's offending can be tackled effectively in the community, including provision of one-stop centres for women serving sentences in the community and for those at risk of offending. We have also introduced a full range of tough, credible and effective sentences as alternatives to custody within a new sentencing framework in the Criminal Justice Act 2003.
	Work is in hand to improve the prison life experience of those women who need to be in prison, particularly relating to their health, mental health and substance abuse needs. We are also developing suicide prevention and self-harm strategies specifically for women; providing much better healthcare services in prison in partnership with the NHS; and improving clinical substance misuse services by providing effective detoxification services and drug treatment programmes for women prisoners.
	We believe that all of these measures are helping to make a difference to the vulnerable women who come into contact with the criminal justice system. Nonetheless, the Government are not complacent and consider that it would be timely to take stock of the work being done. We therefore plan to look again at the measures in place to ensure that we are doing everything possible for these women, including looking at the pathways through the criminal justice system of "vulnerable" women with a multitude of risk factors. I will make a further announcement about this when the scope of the review has been determined.

Industrial Injuries Advisory Council: Report on Vinyl Chloride

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: My right honourable friend the Minister of State for Employment and Welfare Reform (Margaret Hodge) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	The Industrial Injuries Advisory Council report has today been laid before Parliament. After careful consideration, I have accepted the recommendations. Amending legislation will be laid before Parliament.
	In brief the changes are as follows.
	In the case of Prescribed Disease C24 prescription has been changed from:
	
		
			  Prescribed Disease Occupation 
			 C24 (a) Angiosarcoma of the liver;(b) acro-osteolysis characterised by:  (i) lytic destruction of the terminal phalanges,(ii) in Raynaud's phenomenon, the exaggerated vasomotor response to cold causing intense blanching of the digits, and  (iii) sclerodermatous thickening of the skin;(c) liver fibrosis. Exposure to Vinyl Chloride Monomer in the manufacture of polyvinyl chloride 
		
	
	to:
	
		
			  Prescribed Disease Occupation 
			 C24 Exposure to Vinyl Chloride Monomer causing:(a) Angiosarcoma of the liver;(b) Osteolysis of the terminal phalanges of the fingers;(c) Vinyl-chloride monomer-related Raynaud's phenomenon;(d) Vinyl-chloride monomer-related sclerodermatous thickening of the skin, particularly but not exclusively of the hands; or(e) Liver fibrosis. Work involving exposure to Vinyl Chloride Monomer in the  manufacture of polyvinyl chloride. (Where C24c occurs in the absence of C24a, b, d or e the occupational exposure must have occurred before 1 January 1984). [Exposure to polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is not a cause of the prescribed disease] 
			  
		
	
	Copies of the report have been placed in the Library, and are available to honourable Members from the Vote Office.

Investment Trust Companies Regulation

Lord McKenzie of Luton: My honourable friend the Economic Secretary (Ivan Lewis) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	The Treasury has today published a feedback document on responses to the consultation on the regulation of investment trust companies launched in November 2004. That document sought views on whether there was a need to introduce additional regulation and possible options for doing so.
	The Treasury received over 120 responses to the consultation from investment trust companies, fund managers, trade associations, consumer representatives and individuals. The overwhelming response to the consultation was in support of continuing to rely on existing Financial Services Authority (FSA) rule making powers to deliver appropriate and effective regulation of investment trust companies.
	In assessing the case for change, the Government have considered whether additional regulation of investment trust companies would produce better regulation taking account of the balance between costs and benefits. On balance, the Government have concluded that changes to the structure of regulation as it applies to investment trust companies would not result in better regulation.
	It is important, however, that the current regime remains both robust and proportionate. The Government welcome the FSA's forthcoming review of the listing rules applicable to investment companies as an opportunity to ensure that this remains the case, in the context of the listing rules generally and wider regulatory developments. The Government also look to the industry to continue its efforts to improve governance standards.
	Copies of the feedback document are available from the Library of the House. The document can also be accessed on the Treasury website at www.hm-treasury.gov.uk.

Ministry of Defence: Estate

Lord Drayson: My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Don Touhig) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	Babcock DynCorp, a joint venture of Babcock Infrastructure Services, and DynCorp International, has been awarded the regional prime contract covering the Ministry of Defence's estate in eastern England. This follows the successful conclusion of discussions with Babcock DynCorp who were appointed as preferred bidder in July 2005.
	The seven-year contract, worth in the region of £500 million, is the last in a series of five such regional arrangements to cover the estate and provide for capital works, property maintenance and facilities management services, throughout the eastern region of England.
	The Ministry of Defence has undertaken to make significant improvements in the overall condition of its estate by changing its organisational structures and introducing prime contracting methods.
	Encouraging innovation and efficiency, regional prime contracting is a key initiative that aims to provide a better quality of service and greater value for money through suitably incentivised contracts conforming to the principles of "Smart Acquisition".

Ministry of Defence:Winter Supplementary Estimates 2005–06

Lord Drayson: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Defence (John Reid) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the Ministry of Defence departmental expenditure limits (DEL) will be increased by £109,105,000 from £30,944,726,000 to £31,053,831,000. Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table. £000s
	
		
			   New DEL 
			  Change Voted Non-voted Total 
			 Resource 450,824 31,674,758 1,281,792 32,956,550 
			 Capital (341,719) 6,537,537 744 6,538,281 
			 Depreciation*  -7,556,000 -885,000 -8,441,000 
			 Total 109,105 30,656,295 397,536 31,053,831 
		
	
	*Depreciation, which forms part of resource DEL, is excluded from the total DEL since capital DEL includes capital spending and to include depreciation of those assets would lead to double counting.
	The change in the resource element of the DEL arises from:
	a transfer from capital DEL to resource DEL of £370,000,000;
	transfers totalling £8,553,000 from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (£4,745,000) and the Department for Transport (£3,808,000) as their share of the National Meteorological Programme and Weather Warning Service costs under a pan-government agreement;
	a transfer of £145,000 from the Department of Work and Pensions as a contribution to the Veteran Agency's postage costs;
	a transfer of £500,000 from the Department for International Development in respect of the Sub-Sahara Global Conflict Prevention Pool;
	a transfer of £93,000 to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport in respect of staff costs for the Leeds Armouries Museum Pattern Room;
	the take-up of end year flexibility of £28,281,000 capital DEL and £71,719,000 resource DEL; and
	an increase in capital appropriations in aid of £45,886,000 from QinetiQ resulting from the repayment of a loan to the MoD.
	The changes to capital and resource, together with changes in internal budgetary re-allocations, will lead to an increased net cash requirement of £459,105,000.

Passport Fees

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Andy Burnham) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	The Privy Council has made an Order in Council, the Consular Fees (No. 2) Order 2005, which gives authority for a revision in passport fees. The revision will take effect on 1 December 2005. The fee for a standard 32 page passport will increase from £42 to £51 while the fee for a 48 page passport will increase from £54.50 to £62.50. The fee for a passport for a child will increase from £25 to £34. The fee for an adult using the guaranteed one week counter service for a standard 32 page passport will increase from £70 to £77.50, for a child from £60 to £70 and a 48 page jumbo from £71 to £87. The fee for an adult using the guaranteed same day service for a standard 32 page passport will increase from £89 to £96.50, for a child from £71 to £83 and for a 48 page passport from £95.50 to £104.50. The fee for a collective passport, for organised trips for schools and youth groups, will remain unchanged at £39.
	These fees have been set following a stringent review with HM Treasury of costs to ensure that the fee for each type of passport service closely reflects the production costs accrued by that service and bears its share of the cost of consular protection services. This increase will deliver extensive improvements required in the ongoing efforts to combat passport and identity fraud.

War Pensioners

Lord Drayson: My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Don Touhig) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	The war pensioners report for 2004–05 has been published today and a copy has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
	Publication of the war pensioners report is an annual event dating back to before the Second World War. It is a joint document presented to Parliament by the Secretaries of State for Defence, Health, Scotland and Wales.
	The war pensioners report for 2004–05 provides an account of the administration of the War Pensions Scheme and the services provided for war pensioners in 2004–05. The report also provides a variety of data on degrees of disability, pensioner age profiles, rates of pensions etc; and outlines the activities of the War Pensions Committees and Central Advisory Committee on War Pensions throughout the year.